• Family Support Service – Broken Hill (PDF)
  This Service offers services to families within the Broken Hill area, through one on one case work and parenting focused group work. The service supports people regardless of their circumstances to improve their ability to cope and provide an adequate child-rearing environment. Whilst empowering the family to focus on their strengths.
• Youth Connections – Upper Darling & Central Macquarie Regions (PDF)
• Youth Connections – Far West & Murray Darling Regions (PDF)
  Youth Connections supports young people who are at risk of disengaging from education. It offers flexible case managed support and services that focus strongly on achieving outcomes that are prioritised toward personal development and a successful transition through education and onto further education, training or work.
• Reconnect – Far West – Broken Hill (PDF)
  Reconnect is an early intervention homelessness service, working with young people aged between 12-18 who are disconnected from their families or education. Reconnect works one-on-one or providing group work such as self esteem workshops, anger management programs, sexual health and drug and alcohol intervention.
• Resource &Recovery – Dubbo (PDF)
  The Resource & Recovery Program is designed to support people who are recovering from a mental illness by providing ongoing support in gaining employment and/or education and training. Support is also offered to assist clients in gaining improved access to community, leisure and recreational opportunities under the Mental Health Specialist Outreach Program. It also aims to assist clients with maintaining a high level of mental and physical health and aims to promote independence.
• Post Release Support Program – Central West (PDF)
  The Post Release Support Program aims to assist juvenile offenders overcome offending behaviour and reintegrate into their community.  The program aims to provide clients with knowledge and skills, allowing them to address their offending behaviour after they are released from a juvenile justice centre.
• PHAM – Personal Helpers & Mentors (PDF)
  The Aim – The Personal Helpers and Mentors program (PHAM) aims to assist people who have a severe functional limitation as a result of mental illness to reengage in community life, provide improved access to services and provide living skills training.
• OYASS – Orange Youth Accomodation Support Service (PDF)
  The Aim – OYASS provides support to young people aged between 16 and 24 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the Orange community.
• FCM – Family Case Management (PDF)
  FCM is for families that repeatedly come into contact with numerous service providers but still struggle to improve their situation. The Program aims to assist these families using integrated case management, accessing local Government and non-Government service providers. Mission Australia delivers FCM in Orange, Leeton and Narrandera.
• Brighter Futures Program – Orana Far West (PDF)
  The Brighter Futures (Early Intervention) Program is a voluntary targeted program designed for families encountering problems that impact on their ability to care for their children.  The program provides families with the necessary support and services to help prevent an escalation of the problems they are facing.
• Bilingali – Orange (PDF)
  The Aim – Bilingali provides support to Aboriginal people 16 years and older that are detached from families, are at risk of being homeless or are homeless in the Orange Community.

HASI

• HASI in Home – Coonamble (PDF)
• HASI in Home – Coonabarabran (PDF)
  HASI in the Home aims to assist people with a diagnosed mental illness or low levels of psychiatric disability participate in their community, maintain their housing, reduce hospitalisation rates and improve their quality of life.
• Hasi 2 – Walgett & Lightning Ridge (PDF)
• Hasi 2 – Dubbo & Wellington (PDF)
• Hasi 2 – Broken Hill (PDF)
  HASI 2 Aims to assist people with a diagnosed mental illness or low levels of psychiatric disability participate in their community, maintain successful tenancies, reduce hospitalisation rates and improve their quality of life.

• Adults Tooth Erosion Fact Sheet (PDF)
• Childrens Tooth Erosion Fact Sheet (PDF)
• Seniors Tooth Erosion Fact Sheet (PDF)

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WAMS Eye Health Co-ordinator – Phyllis Dennis-Tighe (AHW)

Read Article (health.nsw.gov.au)

In December 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a partnership between all levels of government to work with Indigenous communities to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.
The National Indigenous Reform Agreement was established to frame the task of Closing the Gap in Indigenous disadvantage. It sets out the objectives, outcomes, outputs, performance indicators and performance benchmarks agreed by COAG. It also provides links to those National Agreements and National Partnership agreements across COAG which include elements aimed at closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.
The foundation of the Closing the Gap Strategy is the identification of and commitment to targets addressing Indigenous disadvantage, and associated building blocks – areas for action.

The six targets for Closing the Gap are:

• To close the life-expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians within a generation.
• To halve the mortality gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and other children under age 5 within a decade.
• To halve the gap in literacy and numeracy achievement between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and other students within a decade.
• To halve the gap in employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within a decade.
• To at least halve the gap in attainment at Year 12 schooling (or equivalent) by 2020.
• To provide all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander four year olds in remote communities with access to a quality pre-school program in five years.

To achieve these targets, COAG agreed to focus on seven Building Blocks, in which investments would deliver an outcome in more than one target area.

Read Full Document (PDF)

The Fellowship I’ve just been awarded is the Churchill Fellowship, from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.  101 Fellowships nationally were awarded this year, from over 1000 applications. (28 of these Fellowships were awarded in NSW).  You have to submit a written application, then if successful, have a State based interview, then if successful, go to a national interview, then the final decisions are made.

These Fellowships have been going for over 40 years.

They are awarded to “Australians who are striving for excellence, are passionate about their profession and who have a strong community focus”.

It is a travelling fellowship to enable people to study in their field of work, that they wouldn’t be able to do in their own country.

I’ll be looking at “the implementation of community based preventive dental practices in rural and remote Indigenous communities.” and will be going to Canada and Brazil, in June-July next year for 5 weeks.

The NSW awards will be presented by Marie Bashir at Government House on Friday 23 July.

Sandra Meihubers

Flyer of Churchill Fellowship Recipients (PDF)
http://www.churchilltrust.com.au/

The Government has made the Road Amendment (Child Seating and Restraint) Rules 2010 to amend the Road Rules 2008 to implement a small number of practical amendments to the rules relating to the restraint of children under 7 years of age. The amendments which commenced today will: (more…)

HEALTH SERVICES IN WALGETT SHIRE – 16 JULY 2010 (PDF)

RCNA is calling for applications from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students who are (or intend to be) studying health at an undergraduate level at university or at TAFE. If you are studying a course at TAFE this course must be certificate IV or above.

It is easy to be eligible all you have to do is be studying an undergraduate course at university or an accredited TAFE course (certificate IV and above) in one of the following areas:

• Aboriginal health worker
• Alcohol and other drugs workers
• Allied health (excluding pharmacy)
• Dentistry/oral health
• Health service management
• Health promotion
• Medicine
• Mental health
• Midwifery
• Nursing

Learn More (PDF) |   Application Form (PDF)

In an historic agreement, the NSW Parliament will today officially pledge to work in a bi-partisan spirit to close the 17 year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians within 20 years.…Read (PDF)

The Close the Gap campaign today welcomed the commitment by both the NSW Government and Opposition to end Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health inequality in the state within a generation.
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader, Barry O?Farrell today signed a „Statement of Intent? at a ceremony in the parliamentary chamber, committing the current and future governments to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people.…Read (PDF)

Malcolm Homer (right) gets the all clear for protein in his urine from TJaye Simpson from Walgett AMS and Clayton Anderson GWAHS.

HOPING to continue a little further in the race of life 122 blokes pulled into the pits last week to get a health once over before joining the race. Run by the Coonamble Aboriginal Health Service, the Men’s Pit Stop was run to heightening men’s awareness of their health in an interesting and fun manner…. Coonamble Times – June 2, 2010 (PDF)

Name: Mark McAfee BDS (Queens University Belfast, graduated in 2003)
Location: Walgett, NSW
As a 26 year old Irish Dentist I decided to take a year out from the
rat race and spend 12 months on a working holiday visa in Australia.
While I enjoy the sites and nightlife of Sydney it was somewhat
hard to come across regular employment which is basically the
same type of work as back in the UK. I was looking for an alternative
and was lucky to fi nd it in the outback of NSW in the picturesque
town of Walgett. (more…)

Walget Show 2010 (Page 1)

See Page 2 (more…)